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How often do we make decisions based on our own internal beliefs only to find
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the long-term vision, mission or strategy is and whether current events really are
valid to long-term direction.

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I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from people who say they know what I need and want and I never knew that they were so close to me. The funny thing is none of them have ever asked me about what I need. Actually, they’ve never asked me anything at all. Well, that’s not true. They’ve all asked for money.

Four years ago, I made a political contribution to Barack Obama’s campaign for President. I expected that they would ask me again. What I didn’t expect is that they would ask all their friends to ask me too. I suppose that’s a good thing. We can all use new friends.

During the past six months, not only have I received many, many emails and letters from President Obama but also from Michelle – that’s sweet, we’ve never met. Also Joe and Jill Biden have written me, together and separately. Obviously, I project a lot of charisma to attract all these important, new friends. They told their friends about me too including Elizabeth Wilson, Patty Murray, Diane Feinstein, Debbie Stabenow, Sherrod Brown, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Charles Rangel and many more whose names I’ve forgotten, although I know none of them have forgotten me because they keep sending me emails and letters.

I know I probably sound overly suspicious but sometimes, I think the same person is doing all the writing. They all say they know my needs, wants, dreams, aspirations and desires and it seems the same answer for all of them is mo’ money.

Yesterday, my son received a letter from Mitt Romney. (I’m really upset that he didn’t write me. After all, we went to the same elementary school in Detroit.) But I guess he thinks my son likes him. He must feel that way because he wrote, “you are one of America’s most notable Republicans.” That’s something I didn’t know. But never mind my son’s political persuasions, if that is indeed what they are. I was really interested to read this letter because someone else had to have written it. I don’t think the same writer who works for all the Democrats is writing letters for Mittens (my affectionate name for him – when you grow up nearby, you do those things).

So, I was really excited to see what gems Mittens was going to offer that might change my mind about the course of politics and all my political friends. Here are a few tidbits:

“I believe in America.” – I feel so much better to know that. I’m sick and tired of all these people who run for office and say they believe in Turkmenistan.

“Bigger government does not equal better government.” That’s a tough one for me to take because I grew up singing, “The bigger the burger, the better the burger. The burgers are bigger at Burger King.” And I thought Mittens believed in corporations. That’s a rude awakening.

“I know how jobs are created.” And this is followed by his story of how he got the Olympics in great shape. I guess we need more games in America.

“It could be worse.” Now, he’s sounding like my grandmother although she usually followed with “You should be so lucky.”

Here’s my favorite: “Washington is suffocating the American Dream. We must save it. How do we do that? By believing in America…our future depends on it.” Two quick flashbacks come to mind. The first is Gerald Ford’s WIN (Whip Inflation Now) campaign where if we all came together and just believed, everything would get better. He even wore a button that said “WIN” on it. That helped. I think I saw that in a movie once about a little girl who lived in Kansas. She met a wizard who got her to believe but I don’t recall that his name was “Mittens”. The second is Jimmy Carter’s famous “Malaise” speech. His message of buck up sonny, stiff upper lip and all that never got off the launching pad. All we had to do was be confident, he said. Romney says all we have to do is believe. I’m sure he can explain the difference.

Okay, so in many ways, the letter is a parody of itself. Yet, it’s not much different than any other political letter, Republican, Democrat or Tea Party (yes, I got one of those.) It ends with another request for money and you know what? I know that money is the answer but it’s not money for anybody’s campaign. It’s money for poor people, middle class people, education, research, healthcare, etc. Oh, now I’m sounding like a Democrat. I suppose I should toe the Republican line since I’m reading their letters and say that the solution is money for the moneyed few.

What’s most striking to me about this particular letter (and I’ll now have to start reading the others more closely) is that there is not one solution or proposal for how to actually make things better. Not one. Lots and lots of problems but no ideas, proposals or solutions, only a request for money. They could at least get creative about it. How about emailing me the Money song from Cabaret? That certainly gets the point across with more élan than any of these politicians.

I mean how can a Republican refuse Abba asking for money. They’re white, clean-cut, at least in their day, and they’re Swedish…oh, never mind.

I guess there’s no hope. You’d think that some fund raising genius (and remember that a percentage of what you give goes to them) would come up with the idea of “let’s ask people what they think, what ideas they may have and then, after we’ve listened to them, we’ll ask them for money.” It’s funny how when you ask people what they think rather than telling them, how they often respond better. It’s called human nature but why would we expect our politicians to be human? Come to think of it, doesn’t Mittens often get criticized for being robotic? I wonder.

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